Internet intensity, Siemens units concentrate on the Net >BY CHRIS BUCHOLTZ, West Coast Bureau Chief

Three Siemens subsidiaries have formed a partnership in a move intended to sharpen the parent company's focus on the Internet.

Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, Siemens Nixdorf and Pyramid Technologies will combine their resources for joint Internet projects aimed at traditional telephony carriers as well as Internet service providers, company officials said last week.

"The goal is to create turnkey solutions for our customers, starting with service providers," said Van Cullens, head of the Internet Solutions business unit of SSC. "That means our traditional base of customers-including competitive access providers and local exchange carriers-plus the ISPs.

The company will use its own server platform as a basis for a new solution and complement hardware and software products with "on-the-ground, 24-hour support" to help service providers integrate and manage their Internet offerings.

"The Internet is moving from being the Wild West to the moderately Wild West," Cullens said. "It's still an environment where service providers need to have that measure of support.

The partnership will allow the three companies to leverage each other's strengths, Cullens said.

"Siemens Nixdorf and Pyramid will provide a server platform that we'll integrate into our offerings," he said. "The expertise of these two companies in creating tools will be combined with Siemens Stromberg-Carlson's marketing abilities and knowledge of the U.S. telecommunications market.

"This is only the first of two or three platforms," said Cullens.

The partnership will also leverage alliances that the companies have struck individually. Pyramid, headquartered in San Jose, and parent company Siemens Nixdorf, based in Paderborn, Germany, have formed strategic partnerships with Netscape, Microsoft, Oracle, Raptor and Informix, and SSC recently took an equity stake in technology from Web site design company Persimmon Information.

"The goal here is for our customers to gain best-of-breed software, platforms and service," said John Chen, chairman and president of Pyramid. "These agreements allow us to leverage our expertise.

"The speed at which the Internet moves argues against the home-baked solution. It's too dynamic and unpredictable for one company to have the skill, expertise and resources to do it all," Cullens said.

DECEMBER Dec. 2-6, DB/Expo '96 New York New York, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, (800) 232-3976 Dec. 3-4, Directories and Yellow Pages on the Internet San Francisco, Grand Hyatt of Union Square, (609) 921-7200 Dec. 4-5, Pricing in the New Marketplace Atlanta, Westin Peachtree Plaza, (312) 540-3854 Dec. 4-6, CDMA North American Regional Congress Los Angeles, Century Plaza Hotel and Tower, (714) 545-9400 Dec. 11-12, Integrated OSS for ATM Broadband Technologies Orlando, Marriott, (312) 540-3854 Dec. 11-13, Western Cable Show Anaheim, Convention Center, (510) 428-2225 Dec. 11-13, WIreless Local Loop Washington, D.C., Hilton, (212) 353-4516 Dec. 11-13, TeleCompetition '96 Washington, D.C., Vista Hotel, (800) 822-6338 January 1997 Jan. 7-8, Telecommunications Business Environment Marriott, Denver, (303) 779-4141 Jan. 9-10, Telecommunications and Utility Alliances Marriott, Denver, (303) 779-4141 Jan. 9-11, SCTE Conference on Emerging Technologies Nashville, Opryland Hotel Convention Center, (610) 363-6888 Jan. 12-16, OPASTCO Winter Conference Kauai, Hawaii, Hyatt Regency, (202) 298-2328 Jan. 13-15, Telecommunications Engineering and Operations ComForum Dallas, Grand Kempinski, (312) 559-4600 Jan. 29-30, Linking the Internet to Your Call Center San Francisco, Pan Pacific Hotel, (800) 420-2145 February Feb. 2-6, NTCA Annual Meeting & Expo San Diego, Marriott, (202) 298-2328 Feb. 3-6, ComNet Washington, D.C., Convention Center, (800) 545-3976 Feb. 11-12, Wireless Local Loop Chicago, Hilton and Towers, (312) 540-3854